The headline sounds like a pun: “The wheels are falling off Tesla’s Cybertruck.” But it isn’t a joke. Tesla is recalling 173 Cybertrucks because the wheels can literally fall off while the vehicle is in motion.
Yes, friends, you could be driving to Costco, take a right, and off goes one wheel from your six-figure polygonal truck. Goodbye! Your car is now a prop from a Buster Keaton movie.
The recall covers Cybertrucks fitted with 18-inch steel wheels, built between March 21, 2024, and November 25, 2025. The problem is as straightforward as it is alarming and surreal. Rough roads and hard cornering can crack the stud holes in the brake rotor, causing the wheel stud to separate from the hub.
Tesla acknowledges the separation could cause loss of vehicle control and increase the risk of a crash. The recall takes the crown of quality control problems in the history of Tesla quality control and manufacturing problems (see below).
Tesla will replace the affected wheel hubs and rotors at no charge. Owners should expect a notification letter in the mail by early July 2026.
An announced disaster
This new recall is a perfect metaphor of the Cybertruck’s history. It has been plagued with quality problems since its very design conception. In its presentation, its “indestructible,” bullet-proof driver door window—according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk—was destroyed on stage by Musk himself throwing a simple steel ball against the “armored” glass.
It hasn’t gotten much better since. The truck had quality problems during manufacturing, with doors that don’t align and surfaces that are not exactly the same from one unit to the next.
The Cybertruck has been recalled over its accelerator pedal getting stuck at full throttle, its windshield wiper failing, its exterior trim flying off at highway speeds, and its cameras losing image while shifting into reverse. That’s before getting to the ones involving the frunk, which can close on people’s hands and sever their fingers.
Sales flop
The Cybertruck’s sales have been in free fall for years now. Back in 2023, Musk told investors he expected to sell between 250,000 and 500,000 Cybertrucks per year once production was fully ramped. The Cybertruck launched in late 2023 with over a million people reportedly having placed reservations.
It delivered around 38,965 units in 2024, its first full year on the market—roughly 15% of Musk’s lower target. In 2025, sales were cut nearly in half to 20,237 units—the sharpest year-over-year decline of any EV in the U.S. market that year.
And even those numbers are inflated: according to S&P Global Mobility registration data, Musk’s own SpaceX alone bought 1,279 Cybertrucks in Q4 of 2025—18% of all units registered in the U.S. that quarter—with Musk’s other companies, including xAI, The Boring Company, and Neuralink, accounting for another 60 units. Strip out those purchases by related companies and Q4 registrations would have fallen 51% year over year.
Update timeline
So, without further ado, here’s our updated line of Cybertruck problems and recalls:
NOVEMBER 21, 2019
Elon Musk unveils the Cybertruck. He claims its windows are made of “Armor Glass,” a bulletproof material that won’t even dent when you hit it, even at close range with a steel ball.
Seconds later, two windows break in a live demonstration.
Musk claims it will reach customers in late 2021 starting at $39,900.
AUGUST 8, 2021
Tesla announces it won’t be able to get the Cybertruck out in 2021 due to production problems. The company says it will be pushing the date to early 2022.
JANUARY 31, 2022
Musk announces that Cybertruck production is delayed again, to late 2022, due to various design and manufacturing challenges.
NOVEMBER 1, 2022
Tesla says it won’t be able to meet its late 2022 release window, pushing the release once again to the end of 2023, with “early production” in mid-2023. “We’re in the final lap for Cybertruck,” Musk says on a financial conference call.
JANUARY 24, 2023
In an interview with Fast Company, industry experts say they doubt that the Cybertruck’s design will allow the company to produce it in any significant numbers.
Adrian Clarke—a professional car designer who now writes design critiques for The Autopian—and others in the industry believe it’s having and will have lots of problems: “As soon as we saw [the Cybertruck], everyone I know in the industry started laughing. We just thought there is no way they’re gonna be able to get that into production,” he says.
Clarke believes it’s going to be extremely hard to make “those dead straight panels.”
JULY 20, 2023
The first production prototype of the Cybertruck rolls off the production line at the Giga Texas factory, and eagle-eyed auto industry experts immediately spot one major quality mishap: the front and back passenger doors don’t align.
Misalignment like this is not new to Teslas, but Elon Musk vowed to eliminate the problem back in 2021. These problems will continue in models through the entire production run.
Also, during a May 2023 shareholder meeting, Musk insisted that the Cybertruck would be built as an exoskeleton, a solid steel skin design that would act as the structure, making the car virtually indestructible.
But Cory Steuben, a car and manufacturing expert, pointed out on the automotive video blog Munro Live that the Cybertruck clearly does not have an exoskeleton. According to him, the Cybertruck’s assembly line pictures show a regular unibody chassis, just like the one you would find on “an old Honda Ridgeline or a Model Y,” with its flat panels just acting as your usual body.
AUGUST 24, 2023
The Cybertrucks coming out of Tesla’s Texas factory are not good enough, according to Musk. His internal email to Tesla employees is leaked, and reveals his concerns in categorical terms: “Due to the nature of Cybertruck, which is made of bright metal with mostly straight edges, any dimensional variation shows up like a sore thumb.”
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Remember the promised $39,900 starting price tag? It was wrong. The real starting point is officially announced: $60,990.
JANUARY 25, 2024
Reports of the locking differential feature being inoperative appear, displaying a “Coming Soon” message during use, according to The Drive.
FEBRUARY 2, 2024
Tesla issues an over-the-air software update recall for 2.2 million vehicles, including the Cybertruck. The font size of the ABS, brake, and park indicators is too small, which could increase the risk of a collision.
FEBRUARY 22, 2024
New Cybertruck owners report rust and corrosion on the allegedly stainless-steel body of the truck, especially in vehicles exposed to rain. This was one of the biggest selling points that Musk touted when he announced the truck.
FEBRUARY 28, 2024
Multiple owners report seeing 25 critical system errors within a few days of using the truck, including warnings from the high-voltage system, “critical steering issue” system malfunctions, and “loss of system redundancy” that alerted drivers that the “vehicle may suddenly lose electrical power, steering, and propulsion, and may be unable to apply the parking brake.”
There were also alerts for degraded adaptive drive control plus automatically disabled traction, lane departure avoidance, and stability controls. Some users also report door latches that don’t work.
MARCH 12, 2024
Musk previously announced a futuristic optional camping tent that matched the polygonal shiny looks of the car, but that sleek render of the future turned out to be a sad hodgepodge of flaccid fabric in real life.
MARCH 13, 2024
The Cybertruck Owners Club forum is now flowing with a multitude of reported problems. Owner “cyberstank” reports how they took delivery on March 13, “made it one mile down road, started getting steering error, flashing red screen, pulled off the side of highway. Now the truck is dead and I’m waiting for a tow truck. Dealer couldn’t do anything for me. It was great for 5 minutes. I tried everything, restarting, screen is stuck black and keeps beeping.” The message ends with: “Tesla really rushed these trucks out, what a nightmare.”
MARCH 26, 2024
One owner reports problems with the Cybertruck’s autopilot system: “I encountered a truck on the other side of a two-lane highway. My Cybertruck suddenly made a hard brake stop when we both had a clear wide enough space between us. Luckily there is no vehicle at the back as it would have been a definite collision.” In the same thread, others report similar problems but, to be fair, users report this happens with other Tesla models.
APRIL 1, 2024
Owners all over the internet show the effects of the Cyberguillotine: Tesla didn’t include anti-pinch sensors for the Cybertruck’s frunk, which could cause severe injuries or amputations if fingers get caught. The truck will slice the hell out of your fingers—or any body appendage—that gets too near its closing front hood. (It happens with its doors too.)
APRIL 9, 2024
Apparently, the Cybertruck’s allegedly bulletproof and indestructible, so-called Armor Glass can’t stand hail, as this Redditor shows. The cost for the repair, according to the owner? “Just got an estimate of $2,326.75 via app service request.”
APRIL 15, 2024
Tesla halts all Cybertruck deliveries after owners report a problem with the accelerator pedal, which could become stuck down, due to lubricant residue causing the pedal cover to shift and become lodged in place.
APRIL 19, 2024
Tesla physically recalls all its Cybertrucks. The recall notice states: “The accelerator pedal can become stuck, sending the truck accelerating beyond control, making it a danger to everyone on the road.”
JUNE 25, 2024
Tesla is forced to recall its Cybertruck for the fourth time in the U.S. because of issues with trim pieces that can come loose and front windshield wipers that can fail. The problems announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration affect more than 11,000 trucks.
One issue involves the windshield wiper motor controller receiving too much electrical current. This can cause wipers to fail and reduce visibility, posing a crash risk. Tesla will replace the wiper motor for free and must notify all owners by letter by August 18.
The other recall concerns a trim piece along the truck bed that may come loose and become a hazard for other drivers. Tesla will fix this issue by replacing or reworking the trim piece and will notify owners on the same date.
MARCH 20, 2025
Tesla issues a new physical recall that covers all 2024 and 2025 models built between November 13, 2023, and February 27, 2025: about 46,000 units, most of the Cybertrucks ever shipped. A stainless steel strip could fall because it doesn’t meet durability testing requirements, causing a risk of injury or collision.
OCTOBER 23, 2025
Tesla recalls 63,619 Cybertrucks—essentially every Cybertruck on the road at that point—because the front parking lights are too bright, exceeding federal safety standards and blinding oncoming drivers. Tesla fixes it with an over-the-air software update.
MAY 7, 2026
Tesla recalls 173 Cybertrucks equipped with 18-inch steel wheels because the brake rotor stud holes can crack under the stress of rough roads and cornering, allowing the wheel stud to separate from the hub. The wheels can fall off. Tesla will replace the front and rear brake rotors, hubs, and lug nuts at no charge. Notification letters go out in early July 2026.
